Waiting Room? Huh? Here’s What Happened in the 2016 Main Ticket Sale

We do everything we can to give everyone a fair shot at a ticket to Burning Man, and we work with our ticketing partner Ticketfly to do just that. In an attempt to execute a smooth sale, Ticketfly adjusted how they implemented the queueing technology they use, which inadvertently resulted in 3,500 people who showed up early being placed in the front of the line during the March 23 Main Sale.

Because these people did nothing malicious, we’re not going to cancel their purchases, but unfair advantages are not acceptable, and we are working with Ticketfly to fix this problem for all future sales, including the August 3 OMG Sale. So what happened?

What Happened Before the Sale

Early in the planning process for the 2016 Main Sale, Ticketfly wanted to put a waiting room in place before the sale to accommodate the expected high server load. Under this plan, Burners who entered the sale before it opened would be placed in a “pre-queue” waiting room, and when the sale opened, everyone in that room would be randomly assigned a place in line.

We pushed back on this idea because it conflicted with our longtime policy that arriving early for a sale shouldn’t give one an advantage over someone who arrives when the sale officially begins. In this respect we’re kind of industry oddballs — it is standard practice in most high-volume ticket sales to use a waiting room like this, but it is philosophically out of line with how we feel participants should be treated in a sale.

In response, Ticketfly insisted the system was necessary to ensure a smooth sale, so we sent our standard night-before reminder email to everyone registered for the sale, including an explanation about the waiting room, to be transparent about the process.

In order to be fair to people who signed on at noon (as they were originally told to), we wanted the 20-minute waiting room to open at 11:45 am. That way, places in line wouldn’t be assigned until 12:05 pm, allowing people arriving promptly at noon to still have an equal chance. Everyone who showed up after 12:05 would be placed in line behind them.

It wasn’t ideal, but this compromise satisfied Ticketfly’s need to protect their system from attack and overload, and our need to not leave anyone out in the cold who showed up right at the official 12:00 pm sale time. Unfortunately, it turns out this isn’t what happened.

What We’ve Learned Since the Sale

Before 11:30 am, the Ticketfly system reached a load threshold that triggered the opening of a pre-pre-queue, called a “safety net”, that could absorb the crush of people attempting to line up in the minutes before the official start of the pre-queue. Here’s where human error comes into play: Ticketfly did not anticipate how the safety net would interact with the waiting room, and proceeded to open the expected waiting room at 11:30 am, 15 minutes earlier than we’d agreed and publicized. This waiting room was open for 35 minutes, still ending at 12:05 pm. Unbeknownst to us though, the roughly 3,500 people that arrived in the “safety net” period were given preferential placement ahead of everyone else to buy tickets and vehicle passes.

Reports from participants who experienced anomalies during the Main Sale began trickling in, and our team immediately started researching the claims and pressed Ticketfly for a more in-depth analysis. We scheduled a debrief meeting for April 11 to share the results of the research and address any remaining questions. It was at this point BRC learned about the failure of those caught in the “safety net” to be randomized along with everyone else.

Needless to say, we don’t like being in the position of having to notify people late in the game of a change in how the system works. On top of that, you can imagine our frustration upon learning of the system’s failure to faithfully randomize everyone. We hate that this happened. Please know that Ticketfly is keenly aware of how important it is to fix this problem and are committed to getting it right next time. And to you, we are sorry.

We genuinely wish ticket scarcity didn’t have to weigh on the community consciousness. Unfortunately, the reality is that demand far outstrips supply. But if you didn’t get tickets in the Main Sale, try not to lose heart; there are still options: The Secure Ticket Exchange Program (STEP) opens to those seeking tickets April 27, the OMG Sale happens August 3, and the Low Income Ticket Program is still accepting applications for those who have a demonstrable need for it. Also, keep in mind many tickets change hands among Burners during the summer as people’s plans settle down. This is practically a tradition. Be patient, get the word out, stay connected to your Burner community, and one could very well make its way to you.

59 Comments on “Waiting Room? Huh? Here’s What Happened in the 2016 Main Ticket Sale”

Don’t understand why you guys can’t increase ticket limits. It’s not like you’re not charging for it, IE. they should already be going toward any accommodation and logistics cost. If you’re going to say more people leads to more administration cost, that’s already going to be offset by the ticket price.

Creating a scarcity/exclusivity doesn’t actually contribute to any more profit. There’s already a huge demand for tickets that even when more tickets won’t water down the value because the demand so greatly exceeds supply, and so many return year after year, along with new burners.

From what I learned the problem is the impact on the communities around. The location and its accessibility by only a small street has a huge impact on the few surrounding communities, with ten thousand vehicles using and often blocking that one road from I80 to the desert. That’s where the hard cap for the number of participants came from (from the Bureau of Land Management, at 70000 now?). I suppose beside of reducing the carbon footprint the introduction (and later reduction) of vehicle passes might help in the long run, but apparently not yet. But I’m pretty sure scarcity and thinking of profit is no goal of the Burning Man Project.
Dusty Hugs
Owl

I think the only option as it stands is to enlarge the community. With all the negotiations underway, it surely could be done without putting too much strain on the surrounding community, who with the activity must see most of their economic boost for the year. Why not increase the ticket allotment by at least the number of people who capitalized on the pre-queue, while keeping the number of vehicle passes the same? Or increasing the capacity of the Burner Express with the da Vinci tickets or the new ticket sales. You could probably even have a kickstarter to raise funds to cover the costs of additional population, Burners would ban together. If necessary, you could also expand the streets a bit to make room for the additional people.

In 5 burns, I’ve never had such a large Burner network without tickets. The fact of the matter is that most of the groups I know, including a lot of major sound camps with large amounts of directed group ticket sales, have half of their crew or more without tickets. Many of the people who make Burning Man what it is simply can’t get a ticket anymore, so something has to be done.

With the current ticket system, we properly allocate tickets to a lot of Playa institutions, but the protection of these institutions without increasing capacity keeps new Playa traditions from forming, risking the very essence of Burning Man’s spontaneity and natural regeneration. The stale predictability of other recurring events is a real risk for our community.

This year, a group of 70 Burners and I planned on creating our own camp for the community after observing and dreaming for 5 years. Only 25% of our group got tickets, so it’s starting to look like our Playa dream will never become a reality. I really think we’re at a crossroads as a movement, and that we need to resolve the supply issues to keep Burning Man the magical place it has always been.

It’s really sad with the responsibility given to you folks that almost every year something go’s wrong with ticket sales it’s really a shame that with the amount of followers you folks have you can’t even give them the respect they deserve when waiting patiently to aquire tickets to your next venue it’s time to find another venue that at least treats there patrons with a little respect instead of waiting to hear how sorry you folks are for screwing it up again or maybe it’s just time for an upper management shift thanks very much

This is BS, pure and simple are Ticketfly systems professionals or aren’t they? Evidence suggests ‘NO’ because ptofessionals would have tested the functionality ahead of time. Sorry, there has load-testing and simulation software since the.mid-seventies. Why wasn’t it used? Because Ticketfly are amateurs, that’s why. Time to move on.

For a detailed explanation of how the Waiting Room failed, there is a writeup on /r/BurningMan. Essentially, TicketFly outsourced this “safety net” ridiculousness to a third-party service (Queue-It) which wasn’t aware of the unique code requirement (the Burner Profile codes) to purchase tickets.

1. There was a cache issue due to Ticketfly’s headers, so some people were told their codes weren’t working even at 12:10pm.

2. I was waiting in line, worried I was in the back. Line was moving slow, it was nearly 12:30, 5% through the line. I clicked the Link with my code, to open it in a new tab, and voila!!! NO LINE NEEDED. The other browser tab skipped the line.

Every year Ticketfly has a ton of new bugs and can’t figure out how to handle a moderate amount of load. Twitter can handle the load. Fu*ck Ticketfly. If they can’t handle the load you SHOULD NOT PARTNER WITH THEM. No excuses. Ticketfly is suboptimal and unfair

Yes, this wasn’t the only bug. Numerous people entered the sale after 12:05 and we’re able to bypass the queue and buy immediately. BM really needs to press ticketfly and have their own people on the inside. The idea of the waiting room is great. But it was executed horribly in so many ways. And ticket fly needs to accept a severe penalty if they want future business. There needs to be some motivation to fix the problems next year.

Furthermore, if 3500 people got preference, that means up to 7000 tickets were sold to them, which is 25% of the tickets on sale. This and the other bugs is why the anecdotal probably of getting tickets if you entered the waiting room as instructed was about 10%, far less than the expected 25%.

How do you, in good conscience, partner with the insecure company Ticketfly? They can’t handle the load, are always susceptible to tons of workarounds, always have glitches, and 12 year olds could hack the line.

I hate ticketmaster with a passion. So greedy: but they have their shit together. Maybe even Eventbrite would work with you, to do this correctly next time

I also agree that ticketfly has proven that they simply do not meet the needs of burners – period. They are a flat out failure of the radical self reliance. I motion BM absolutely find a new partner, and do a proper “pre-sale” of a FREE 100 or so tickets to allow the vendor of choice to load test in a real environment.

I tried to get into the queue at 11:45am, but it wouldn’t let me. Tried to enter my code several times to no avail. I made one last attempt to get into the sale at 12:05, and was immediately brought to the ticket purchase page; no queue. It was bizarre, and unfair to those in the queue. Most of my friends were in the queue for an hour and never got tickets.

It is essentially random when it comes to everyone clicking a link at the exact same time. Depends on internet connection speeds, finger speed etc. Comes down to a few milliseconds of difference and gives an advantage to those who can script clicks.

It would be better to have a pure lottery and allow exchanes only through STEP. No physical tickets, just bar codes you can print and bring with you.

Much simpler and more transparent. Much harder for scalpers to do much to game the system.

I don’t think random distribution is bad. This involves:
1. Trying your luck with Ticketfly’s many bugs, slow systems
2. Determine which info source to trust (do I refresh? do I enter early? do I reload at 10:00:01?)
3. Stressing over trying other things and losing your place in line, since these crappy ticketfly systems can’t be trusted

I agree with the lottery idea. One way this could work would be to make the registration a request for tickets and vehicle passes, complete with mailing address, credit card information and an agreement for the number of tickets they want and whether they’d still want some if there weren’t as many available. After the registration window closes, the system would randomize those requests and charge the cards for the number requested or available and the rest would be done in STEP. Could work with the right logistics.

We had a lottery in 2012, people hated it. But you’re completely correct, it’s basically a lottery when they’re this much demand and tens of people are hitting the servers at literally the same millisecond. It’s just that with a “first-come/first-served” system (which we’ve established is a misnomer) people cling to the illusion that they have some kind of control over their results. It’s all perception, but there you go.

What a joke. It was obvious there was a bug in the system when so many of us who logged in at 11:45 (before 11:46) got nothing. What made it worse was that the write-up / explanation for “waiting room” was so pathetically inadequate. Pathetically inadequate! Does anyone there know how to write clear, meaningful instructions that are not mysterious? In English?
Quite insulting to the burner community who made such a diligent effort to be there on time- you guys ought to be ashamed and provide a fix – not mere fancy words now –

If you want this to be fair, implement a 1-ticket-per-person lottery system. If you want to pay commission to TICKETFLY, THOSE F*U*C*K*U*P*S, and then be left with a very buggy, very unfair distribution system, then keep using them. Way to go BMORG. Keep paying Ticketfly, who can’t properly engineer this NOR CAN THEY PROPERLY CONTRACT OUT ENGINEERING TO OTHER COMPANIES.

I have always hated Ticketfly – but that’s not the point. BM does not have to “partner” with them. Shame on BM – if that’s the best decision someone can make, then it should not be their decision to make.

Plus, figure out a solution for those who were in the stupid fake “waiting room” right at 11:45.

Mistakes happen, your transparency is appreciated. Perhaps Ticketfly can make amends by randomly “gifting” 3500 people who bought tickets by issuing a refund, to come from their bank account not the Orgs. Then find another vendor.

I was not able to access the waiting room no matter how much I tried at various times. Of course this put me into a panic. Thankfully I put my code in again right when at 12:00 and got in – no waiting room required.

While I am happy to have tickets, if the waiting room actually worked (actually let met in), and then randomly assigned a spot in the line that would have been more fair. It seems as if the people who follow instructions lose out every time.

The problem is TicketFly (in spades) but I must also say with BM Mgmt. Where was the due dilligence? We have been having screw-ups year after year after year. You can chalk up the first time or two to a learning experience – that grace period is long past.
Now is the time – NOW – to find a new vendor and thoroughly vet them.
That is owed to the ticket buying community. Not a guarantee of ticket (that can’t be done), but a guarantee of a fair and equitable system. Randomized, first-come, first-served, whatever, but no short-cuts and side doors.
At least owe up to this course of action.

I knew something was wrong because I always get tickets… But this year my little man forward moonwalked to cry town. I’ve thought long and hard about this… and I’ve decided the best thing to do in this situation is to hurl insults and blame at everyone involved including my computer – which I spit on and slapped. If anyone is interested I’m starting a tunnel dig from Reno on Tuesday. Please bring your own shovel.

the worst part was hanging for an hour watching the man saunter, and then being told all tix were in other people’s carts but if any sales failed the tix would be made available. so i hung. suddenly i was told “it is now your turn. you are being moved to the tickets page.” great!!! not great. there were no tickets. and the center box for “number of tickets” was not working. and it all sucked. especially the thinking i got lucky, only to have it be a glitch. lame. amateurish and i hope BM lets ticketfly “take a flying fuck!!”

Maybe move to a 2 week system, 50K at least expected at each week, main camps and services and those who want to, can be at both weeks. One major setup in the beginning, rebuild of the man, a temple, and maybe some different art to be burnt for week 2. Artists could decide if they wanted to stay through both, or free up their space for another artist to come in at week 2. The event can not grow any bigger in the one week, so spread it out.

As a newbie, it was my first attempt to acquire a ticket. From the comments and from this article, it would seems BM is just another corrupt culture. In most of the world, if one has the willingness and ability to pay then tickets are available whether it’s scalpers or Da Vinci $1200 tickets. I followed the rules and I have no ticket. Maybe a little bit of sour grapes as I thought BM was at least honorable. So much for playing by the rules.

Many commenters have suggested the population of BRC be allowed to increase.
I have tried to keep an eye on the population cap, and what I have learned is that the cap is determined by the capacity of the highway, measured in cars per hour. I forget the number, but it is somewhere between 600 and 1,000 cars per hour. Any more than this maximum, and traffic slows down and soon we are all standing still.
This would be most important if it became necessary to evacuate BRC.
While this risk is tiny, it could happen — earthquake, tornado, epidemic (let’s admit it; sanitary conditions are not ideal) — and we (tax-payers) employ the BLM precisely to manage such risks on our behalf (among many other tasks).
So… short of finding a couple Billion bucks on the sidewalk, to spend on widening 100 miles of highway by a lane or two, there is not much we can do about the population cap. I sure wish I could bring better news.

With the number of tech people in the Burner community and within the BORG itself, I am amazed that Burning Man does not write its own code to develop a ticket selling platform that fits their needs. Fuck Ticketfly. They have failed enough.

Not buying this. Another year, another excuse. Forget the fact that Ticketfly are mates of the BMOrg, and therefore will be allowed to keep messing this up without rebuke, it’s wider than that. Forget the whole Burning Man “community” lie, it’s just another bunch of people in control lining their own pockets. Sad, but also sadly inevitable. See ya x

Ok – alot of disappointment and anger. I was lucky to go two years ago for the first time. My campmates who have been going and were solid into it every year for over 10, have now agreed the community they had is destroyed. Can’t function without the team being there together. 30% of the gang isn’t enough to go.

To those asking for some type of lottery, I now time travel you back to 2012 when there actually was a lottery for tickets. The complaints were loud and numerous. Viola. Ticketfly! Can’t win for loosing.

Can we please move forward with making all tickets transferrable only through S.T.E.P.? I seem to remember reading in the 2015 BRC Census that 3% of people paid more than face value for tickets. It may not be a huge number, but that’s still 2,100 tickets that were purchased purely for the sake of profit rather than by members of the community. I’d be very willing to wager that the percentage is much higher for vehicle passes. I know it’s only a small part of the problem, but it’s a very annoying small part that is SO easily fixable. okthanksbye

Personally I most like the easy way the German fusion festival sell tickets: by lottery. Personalized tickets, you cannot sell them, you get only in with your id. There is a second lottery where the losers of the first lottery have a chance to purchase a ticket not paid or registered with wrong data or double registration and so disqualified.

Get rid of the ticket queue… (it is rewarding bad behavior) Back in the past with the tier sales, there was no queue, you were bounced out before the announced entry time…
What is interesting the ticking process seems to be following the way BM handles the entry gate…

After having been on the receiving end of both the Main Sale and STEP’s utterly shitty snafus, I really feel the only conscionable response (if this happens again in the future) is to do a RE-SALE – a complete do-over. I followed all of the directions and did everything “right,” and still I’m without a ticket this year, and unlikely to get one through STEP, which crashed for 20 full minutes before I got thru. Fire Ticketfly!

It’s sad and pathetic that the BM org wants to (again) place all the blame on Ticketfly, yet THEY are responsible for repeatedly choosing them as their ticket vendor. I wonder how many “insiders” were told ahead of time to try logging in early and were then rewarded for breaking the rules, while so many of us who DID follow directions were left out in the cold… Stubhub and other scalpers were apparently able score quite a bounty of tickets and passes to resell for far more than twice face value. And has anyone addressed the issue of allowing people to buy up to 8 TICKETS and 4 VEHICLE PASSES in the Pre-Sale for $900 and $1,200 each…? If this isn’t blatant catering to the wealthy, the powerful and the Plug&Play camps then I just don’t know what is. It truly pains and sadden me to say that money talks at Burning Man, just as in the default world, and their Decommodification and Radical Inclusion principles have obviously failed.

I joined the queue long after several friends due to Chrome being finicky, and I was the only one that actually got through… So by my first hand account, getting in early definitely didn’t mean you got through the waiting room faster than anyone else.

Sorry but that’s not what I meant. People should not have been able to access the “queue holding area” before the designated opening time of 11:45am at all, as indicated in the email that was sent to all of us the day prior. It gave them an obvious and unfair advantage and accounts for 7,000 tickets going to people who were trying to break the rules and circumvent the system. And some who logged on after the queue closing time of 12:05pm were also rewarded… Either way you slice it, those who did NOT follow instructions were apparently MORE likely to score tickets than those who did.

Because of this & continued ticket screw ups of years past, NOT ONE of our BM Camp of 15 people got a ticket this year. We were all in the queue 15 mins early & sat there for 45+ mins only to find out NONE OF US got a ticket. After being a faithful BM participant for 10 years, I’m seriously PO’d at the whole process. We have fed 1000’s of people, gave gallons of water away, repaired bicycles for free, gave free rides from the Reno Airport & yet we’re treated like new comers. Scalpers can get tickets but the devoted followers can not. Considering the High Cost of attending BM & then having to wait & see if we can get a ticket, we’re seriously considering not Coming Home Again.

I feel sad there are so many angry comments about people not getting tickets for their specific camps/friends.

If there’s one reason I go to Burning Man, it’s to give back to others. So I’m thankful it exists, period – and perhaps other people can take a moment to be thankful for all the hard work that goes into creating this miracle place I look forward to all year long.

Andrew – I’m happy that you were able to score a ticket. And most of those who’ve commented here, whether they got tickets or not, would probably agree that we are indeed thankful that Burning Man exists. I personally have had some of the best experiences of my life on the playa and will always be grateful for the opportunity to have been part of something so grand.
More than anger, I think what you’re hearing is a sense of frustration with the BM Org and their unwillingness to do ANYTHING to improve the ticket buying process in ways that would make it more equitable and transparent. And any tweaks that ARE made appear designed to attract more wealthy “art patrons”, dot-comers, celebrities, and plug-n-play fortresses. My experience with these groups during past burns would suggest that they actually do MUCH LESS in terms of participation, contribution and volunteering, all of which foster the sense of community that is at the heart of what has made Burning Man so special.

OK, Guys, Gals & Other:
I volunteered in the past for 8 years! Now as an individual, this is my second years WITHOUT any tickets ! Yes, I played by the rules. The current ticket system just plain sucks. I can’t complete with the pre-programmed computers, hackers and a broken system. Never again will I volunteer!
See ya’.